


The Wind Is Singing

by Chash



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 22:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16689790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: In theory, Bellamy wouldn't be upset that Octavia invited a friend for Thanksgiving, especially not Clarke, whom he likes a lot.It's just that he likes her enough that he hooked up with her a couple months ago and they haven't talked since. So that might be weird.





	The Wind Is Singing

"Hey, I told Clarke she could come for Thanksgiving."

If Bellamy had been doing literally anything, he would have fumbled it. If he'd been walking, he would have tripped. If he'd been cooking, he would have burned himself. Luckily, he's just staring at a mostly blank word document with his phone on speaker, so all that happens is his stomach dropping and his heart racing.

"Doesn't she have a family?" he asks, the words coming out a little harsher than he intended.

"She does, she had a fight with her mom or something. She said she didn't want to impose, but if she doesn't come to us she's just going to be on campus alone, so I'm making her impose. But if you told her it was cool, she'd probably feel better about it."

Never in his life has he been happier to _not_ be on a video call. "I can tell her she's welcome, yeah," he says, forcing his voice to be even in spite of the total shutdown his body is going through. "Anyone else? Is your boyfriend coming?"

"No, he has a family of his own too. And you can stop being an asshole about him existing. I'm twenty, that's definitely more than old enough to date."

"It is," he agrees, and doesn't let himself try to argue the point farther. They can talk about Clarke instead, like that's better. "Is she getting a ride with you? Is she staying with us?"

"Miller's going back to California, right? Like for a week?"

"Yeah, he's introducing Monty to his family."

"Awesome. So I'll take his bed, Clarke can take the futon, and we're set, right? You always make way too much food anyway, we can always use one more mouth to feed."

He pauses, but no counterarguments present themselves. Not that he looks _that_ hard. "Yeah, that checks out. You guys are still driving down on Tuesday?"

"Clarke has class until four, unless it gets canceled. We'll leave after that, so get to you around six, probably? As long as traffic isn't too bad. But everyone's trying to leave the city, not come in."

"Okay, I'll plan to have dinner for everyone around seven."

"And you'll call her? You have her number, right?"

"Yeah. I'll probably text, but I'll let her know she's welcome."

"And she _is_ , right?"

It's one of those questions that isn't _really_ a question. Octavia probably thinks he's just annoyed about the change in plans, that he's going to put his foot in his mouth and scare Clarke off with his lack of enthusiasm, and based on his reaction, he even understands why she'd think that. It's completely logical misinterpretation.

So he smiles, hopes it'll come across in his tone. "Of course she is. The more the merrier."

Octavia snorts. "Good thing you're texting, you're a shitty actor. See you next week?"

"Yeah, can't wait."

He hangs up the phone, closes his laptop, and puts his head down on the closed case, letting out a long breath. It's probably not a big deal, definitely _shouldn't_ be. And Clarke agreed to come, so--

Well, that could go a couple ways. Either she really is cool with coming and doesn't think it's weird, or she didn't know how to tell Octavia she didn't want to come for Thanksgiving without also telling Octavia that it would be too awkward because of that one time she and Bellamy hooked up.

He had always liked Clarke, even before the hookup, and obviously liked her during and after the hookup too. He and Octavia only had one year of crossover at Arcadia, her freshman year and his senior, and while he met Clarke then, he hadn't really given her much thought. She was a sophomore, a nice enough girl whom he liked, but just another of his sister's gaggle of friends.

But he'd come back to campus over the next few years, for friends' sports events, for Octavia's a cappella performances, for all the normal things that bring people to places where their friends are, especially when said places are only an hour and a half away in good traffic. And somewhere in there, he'd gotten to know Clarke, and gotten to like Clarke. She was smart and quick, sharp both mentally and emotionally, a prickly, jagged kind of girl who really appealed to him. When they were at the same events--and with just a few friends in common at a small-ish college, they often found themselves at the same events--they tended to find each other and stick together, in some odd relationship stage between casual acquaintances and casual friends.

When he slept with her over the summer, it hadn't been a mistake, or even really an accident. He'd been at a party at Miller's boyfriend's apartment, and Clarke had happened to be there too, and they'd flirted all night, finally gone back to his place together. The sex had been amazing, but the morning after, Octavia showed up at his apartment unannounced, and Clarke had ended up sneaking out while O was in the bathroom.

To add insult to injury, when he opens up the text to her, he finds they haven't spoken since that afternoon, when Clarke texted "Are we good?" and he replied, "Definitely."

Just in case the whole Thanksgiving thing wasn't awkward enough already.

 **Me** : Hey, O said she invited you for Thanksgiving  
And then told me to tell you that I'm good with it  
Which I am  
Unless you don't want to come I guess  
In which case you can tell her I sounded unenthusiastic or whatever else you want to say to get out of it  
But otherwise you're welcome

He forces himself to stop texting at that point, which he probably should have done after the third text, but he knows how his sister can be. Octavia's one of those people who decides she _is_ doing something nice and no one is going to stop her, including the person she's being nice to, even if that person has no interest in the thing she wants to do for them. Unless Clarke had a good excuse ready-prepared, she probably wasn't getting out of O's invitation, even if she really wanted to.

He's just hoping she doesn't want to.

His concentration is shot, so he gives up on the script he was trying to write and switches to Hearthstone, not wanting to use his brain for a while. The distraction isn't quite enough to keep his mind from wandering, but it's at least a better distraction than trying to figure out what he's going to talk about in his next video.

Clarke, at least, doesn't make him wait long.

 **Clarke** : You're definitely selling a lack of enthusiasm  
No offense

 **Me** : It's in case she asks for proof  
Seriously, we'd love to have you  
You're always welcome  
But I know O doesn't always pick up on social cues, so if you were looking for an excuse, feel free to use me

 **Clarke** : I wasn't  
I know what a great cook you are  
But I figured you might not have room or something  
Octavia's also not great with practical concerns

 **Me** : No, it's fine  
As long as you don't mind the couch  
And a small meal with some strangers  
Me and O might be the only people you know, I can't remember  
Murphy and his girlfriend Emori, Raven and this guy she's flirting with, my coworker Echo  
We call it orphan Thanksgiving because no one has families to go home to  
BTW is everything okay with your mom?

 **Clarke** : Yeah, it's fine  
She's traveling to do Thanksgiving with her new boyfriend and his family, which is good for her, I support her, etc  
But I really don't want to fly to Oregon to spend the holiday with a bunch of people I've never met  
Mom wasn't thrilled, but I told her I had a ton to do for finals and grad school applications

 **Me** : What are you doing grad school for again?

 **Clarke** : Art education  
Ideally at Tufts

It's not actually a big deal, that Clarke might end up in the Boston area after graduation. Most kids who went to Arcadia go to Boston, New York, or DC, and there was always a good chance Clarke would stick around after graduation. But since the start of her senior year came only a month after the whole sleeping together thing, he hasn't gotten a lot of updates on her plans. It wasn't as if he had any excuse to ask.

 **Me** : Cool  
Well, like I said, we're happy to have you  
The futon is is all yours

 **Clarke** : Thanks  
See you Tuesday?

 **Me** : Yup  
Oh, any allergies?

 **Clarke** : Nope  
Should I bring anything?

 **Me** : You're an artist, so I'm going to make you decorate the table  
Bring whatever you need for that

 **Clarke** : Deal  
See you soon

In spite of himself, he can't help feeling--just a little--disappointed about the whole thing. He wouldn't have wanted it to be an awkward interaction, not exactly, but it would have been nice if it had felt like something had changed. Clarke seemed to want to go back to how they were before they hooked up, and that's better than being nothing at all, but--

He rubs his face, lets out a breath. She wasn't ever going to date him or anything. It was one night, and he's had plenty of one-night stands with friends that didn't change anything. Granted, there's usually some conversation after, a post-mortem where they discussed the terms of their ongoing relationship, but he and Clarke don't have enough of an ongoing relationship that they needed one.

And, of course, they hadn't actually _seen_ each other since then. But she'll be staying in his apartment for almost a week; they'll have more than enough time to have an awkward conversation.

It's going to be great.

"Happy Thanksgiving," he mutters, checking to verify that, yes, he was so distracted he lost his Hearthstone game, before going to the kitchen to grab a beer.

*

Octavia and Clarke arrive at 6:15 on Tuesday, and Octavia greets him with a huge hug and "Your beard looks awful."

"Thanks, I missed you too. How was the drive?"

"Fine." She steps out of his arms. "I'm going to go call Lincoln and let him know we got in safe, when's dinner?"

"Seven."

She gives him one more squeeze. "Good to see you."

And then she's gone, and he's left alone, trying to look at Clarke a normal amount.

She looks good, which isn't a surprise, but she looks more different than he expected after only four months. Her hair was already cut to her shoulders the last time he saw her, but she's dyed it too, a one bright stripe of pink, and there's a stud in her nose, winking at him as she tilts her head and studies him right back. Assuming she doesn't dislike the beard as much as Octavia does, she probably likes what she sees as much as she ever did.

It's been less than a minute and he's already overthinking everything way too much. 

"Hey," he says, and she smiles.

"Hey."

"Hug?"

She nods and he opens his arms, and they do a quick hug before pulling back. "Thanks for inviting me. Or not objecting when Octavia invited me, I guess."

"Happy to have you. I'd show you your room, but this is it. The futon does fold out, at least."

"It's fine," she assures him, going over to sit on the futon and give an experimental bounce. "Perfect. Do you need any help with dinner?"

"No, thanks."

They lapse into silence, slightly awkward, until Clarke finally says, "We're cool, right?"

"Yeah. Obviously."

"Okay, so stop being weird."

He laughs, a surprised little huff of it. "Easier said than done."

"I liked your last video," she says. "How's that going? It always seems like you have way too many subscribers for an ancient Rome channel."

"Yeah, I don't get it either. But it's going pretty well. I think I get a lot of play in high-school Latin teacher sub plans, which is a pretty decent demographic. I'm not going to be able to quit my day job or anything, but it's fun and I like it."

"Cool."

"So, art education?"

"Yeah. Either classroom teaching or museum work, I'm not sure which. But I like art, I like teaching, and I definitely don't want to go to med school, so--" She shrugs. "It seems like a good thing to do to put off having a real job."

"And Tufts is your first choice?"

"Yeah, they have a program with the school at the MFA, so it should be pretty cool. And I like Boston."

"It's a good place to be." He wets his lips. "So, my next video is going to be about the new _Assassin's Creed_ , even though it's Greek, not Roman. People keep sending me messages that I have to review it anyway. Want to watch me be really shitty at killing Spartans?"

Her smile is soft, a little crooked, but her eyes are warm. "That sounds great."

*

Bellamy's office is open for a half day on Wednesday, which is honestly kind of a relief. O has her own keys to the apartment so Clarke can take the spare set and everyone can just do their own things. He's not the most comfortable host at the best time, and the whole Clarke situation just makes it worse; with any luck, both she and Octavia will have cleared out by the time he's done with work, and he'll have the afternoon to himself to pointedly not remember the feel of Clarke's lips on his.

It's a solid plan that falls apart when Clarke is still on the futon when he gets back. She's taken the sheets off of it and turned it back into a couch, but hasn't bothered getting dressed yet. She looks soft and warm in her tank top and plaid pants, with her laptop on her lap and glasses on.

"Hey," she says, giving him a smile that makes his heart twist up. "How was work?"

"Fine. I figured you'd be out on the town or something."

She smiles, shrugs one shoulder. "Octavia said I could come hang out with her and her high-school friends, but I really did want to work on grad school applications. It's not due for a while, but I'm going to be really busy with finals and Christmas, so I might as well get everything done while I have some time."

He hangs up his coat and toes off his shoes, takes a seat next to Clarke. "What are you so busy with for Christmas?"

"Family ski trip," she says. "With Mom and Marcus. That's part of why I wanted to skip Thanksgiving. I know it's unfair, but--they started dating after I started school, so he feels like this stranger who's supposed to be my family. And stuff like Thanksgiving and the ski trip should be us bonding, but--"

"Yeah, I can see how that would be weird."

"I like him, it's just--yeah, weird. But either way I'm probably going to be pretty busy, so--" She pats her keyboard. "Grad school applications it is. If you want to play your game it's not going to bother me, though. Or I could go to Starbucks to work, if you want me to--"

"Oh, no. No, you're fine. I was just going to dick around on the internet for a while, probably."

"Sorry if I'm cramping your style."

He snorts. "Yeah, you're really killing my whole vibe. Let me just go put on my pajamas so we match."

Despite his flippancy, and hers, he really is expecting it to be a lot weirder than it is. It's not even the fact that they had sex that's worrying him, so much as the fact that they don't know each other than well and it's always a little strange having someone else in his space. But they put _Bob's Burgers_ on in the background and settle in under a couple of blankets, and Bellamy finds himself not worrying about it at all. Clarke's happy, he's happy, it's a pleasant afternoon in the company of a person whose company he very much enjoys.

He does still want to kiss her again, but he can mostly ignore that. He spends most of his time not kissing people; why should Clarke be any different?

The vibe shifts when Octavia gets back, but not in a bad way. There's just more talking and less silent companionship. It does, at least, mean he gets a good deal of information about how Clarke's semester is going and what's going on in her life without having to ask himself. Which is one of those thoughts that makes him feel like kind of a creep, but it's really him trying _not_ to be creepy. He's just having trouble with what constitutes a normal amount of interest to show in someone who is, primarily, his sister's friend and not his.

"Oh, whatever happened with that Niylah girl?" O asks, when the conversation lags.

"Huh?" asks Clarke, frowning.

"The one you thought was flirting with you last semester, you haven't mentioned her lately. Honestly, I feel like your love life just died this year."

There's no normal amount of attention to pay to that one, so Bellamy just focuses on his laptop, like this tavern brawl is the most important thing that's ever happened to him.

"I've been busy," says Clarke. "Dating isn't really a priority right now, I've got too much else going on."

"I never said anything about _dating_. How long has it been since you--" She seems to remember Bellamy is there all at once and glances at him, cutting herself off with a cough.

"It hasn't been _that_ long," says Clarke, smooth. "This summer."

"Okay, that's not as bad as I thought. But still!"

"You know, every time one of my friends gets into a serious relationship, they _always_ get over-invested in my love life. Why don't you pick on Bellamy?"

"Bell's definitely single. It's definitely been way longer since he got laid than you."

Bellamy's watching Clarke out of the corner of his eye, so he does see her ears go pink. Just a little. "I also got laid this summer, thanks. But I still want to opt out of this conversation." He closes his laptop and stands, very pointedly does not make eye contact with Clarke. "What do you guys want for dinner?"

*

The thing is, Bellamy doesn't actually think his sister would _care_ , if she knew he had a thing for Clarke. She wouldn't be upset or anything. She probably wouldn't even be upset that they slept together and didn't tell her. If anything, she'd be upset that her showing up made them panic and melt down, instead of just talking to each other like they should have. 

And upset that Bellamy's had three months to correct the situation and still hasn't. Which, granted, is pretty upsetting.

Not that not talking to Clarke had been that awkward pre-Thanksgiving. If he hadn't slept with her, he wouldn't have been talking to her either. And maybe the whole sleeping with her thing should have changed that, but then it would have been a _thing_ , and he hadn't gotten any indication Clarke wanted it to be a thing. He still has no indication Clarke wants it to be a thing, so he shouldn't want it to be a thing either. 

It's not like he could actually _date her_. She's only a couple years younger than he is, but she's in college an hour and a half away, and even if she ends up in Boston after, she's still--

Okay, if she ends up in Boston after graduation, there's no reason he couldn't date her. But that won't be for months, and it's just a crush. He doesn't even think about her that much. The only reason he's thinking about her as much as he is now is that she's visiting, and once she leaves, the feelings will pass again. Out of sight, out of mind. Simple.

He wakes up early on Thursday without having set an alarm, because that's how Thanksgiving _is_ for Bellamy. On a conceptual level, he thinks the holiday is colonialist bullshit, but if they just got rid of the backstory and made it a day to eat a bunch of awesome food and hang out with friends, it would be perfect. As it is, it's mostly the day when he cooks way too much food and all his friends make fun of him about it, which is pretty good too. There are worse things to be excited about than making a lot of food and seeing a lot of people he loves.

He's filling the first pie when Clarke comes in from the living room, bleary-eyed and sleep-rumpled, distractingly cute as always.

He offers her a sheepish smile. "Did I wake you?"

"No, you're good. I didn't think you'd be starting this early."

"Our kitchen isn't huge, so I have to schedule pretty carefully. Pies first, and then they move out to make room for the turkey."

She checks the coffee pot and pours herself a cup. "Can I help with anything?"

"Can you cook?"

She pauses, frowning at the mug like it knows what cooking skills she does or does not have. "I can follow directions."

"You don't have to help. I usually do everything on my own."

"Octavia doesn't help?"

"Octavia burns water."

She considers this and then nods, like it should have been obvious. "Okay, so--do you have a list of stuff or anything? I could try to find something to help with."

In the end, she handles the pumpkin pie and spends the rest of the morning working on a centerpiece, which she really _did_ bring supplies for. It's a monstrosity of autumnal tissue paper and cardboard, and he's never, ever throwing it away. It will be their Thanksgiving decoration _forever_.

Once that's done, she takes care of the cranberry sauce while Bellamy frets over the turkey, and she hangs out in the kitchen with him doing whatever random tasks he comes up with. Octavia takes control of the TV, finding Thanksgiving-themed content on Netflix and Hulu to entertain their guests, which is nice mostly because it keeps all of their disaster friends out of the kitchen. Of the people present, only Raven was at Monty's party, so she's the only one who gives him a pointed _look_ when she sees Clarke, but he'll probably get an earful from most of them.

He'll definitely deserve it.

On the bright side, they're all considerate enough to be fairly behaved during dinner. Clarke is the only person who's totally new to the group, but Zeke has only been hanging out with them for a few months and he and Raven are definitely going to be a thing soon, so everyone wants to grill him more. All Clarke has to say is that she goes to Arcadia with O and everyone's satisfied with who she is and where she came from.

At least at the table. Bellamy and Raven happen to be getting seconds at the same time when she leans in to murmur, "That's the girl you hooked up with this summer, right?"

It seems wrong to deny it. "Yeah."

"And?"

"And what? We hooked up. You and I hooked up too. I've hooked up with like half the people at that table."

"You can't stop looking at her, though."

That's worrying if true. "She'll be back at school in a couple days."

"It's not like she's dying." She plops a scoop of potato onto her plate like an exclamation point. "You like her. Don't make it complicated."

"Easier said than done." But he smiles. "I'll keep that in mind."

The house rule is that if you don't cook, you clean, so Bellamy and Clarke end up on their own again after dinner, channel-surfing while Octavia supervises the dish-washing and putting away. 

"Did you have fun?" he finds himself asking. He's not really worried, but he wants to hear her say it. 

"Yeah, it was great. Thanks again for having me."

"Thanks for coming. And helping out."

"You really did do most of the work."

He shrugs. "Company was nice. And you did do the centerpiece. That's an instant family heirloom."

That makes her smile. "Glad I could help, then."

Once the dishes are done, Zeke and Echo have to go, but everyone else sticks around for a movie. The group crowds onto the couch strategically, Murphy and Raven taking either side of him and Clarke, pushing them together, but Bellamy finds he doesn't mind when Clarke scoots in that extra inch and snuggles against his side.

It's one of those perfect storms of an evening, the kind where if he fucks it up, it will be like giving the universe the middle finger as it smiles on him. Octavia gets a call from Lincoln about fifteen minutes before the movie ends, says goodnight to everyone and ducks into Miller's room to take it. Everyone else lingers for a few minutes after the credits, but it's getting late, so they take off quickly, and then it's him and Clarke again.

"Want to watch the Thanksgiving _Brooklyn 99_?" she asks, and when they sit again, she settles back in, just as close.

It's not subtle, but it's not the lack of subtlety that really gets him. It's the cumulative effect of the last few days, where he's been so focused on not letting on that he wants to hang out with her that he totally missed that she's been seeking him out. Clarke has, in fact, spent her whole visit ignoring Octavia, and Octavia has been enabling that, and now he and Clarke are snuggled together on the couch and he's kind of a fucking idiot.

He puts his arm around her and she cuddles closer with a contented little noise.

"Have you been flirting with me all week?" he asks.

Clarke snorts, this soft, fond laugh that's more encouraging than anything else. "I've been flirting with you for like two years."

He laughs too. "Okay, well--I noticed at least one time."

"You did." She wets her lips, looking down at her lap. "I figured it was a one-time thing."

"I didn't want to make it weird. But I never wanted it to just be once."

When she looks up at him, it's easy, and he leans down, pressing his mouth to hers. It's a slower kiss than any of the ones they shared over the summer, but the shape of it is still familiar, the way her lips curve into a smile, the way her arms wind their way around his neck and her fingers tangle in his hair. 

He tugs her into his lap and she comes willingly and it's such a relief that he laughs, which kind of destroys the moment.

"Good?" she asks. 

"Regretting how long I spent overthinking it."

"I could have said something too," Clarke says. "But you were just--Octavia's stupidly hot older brother. I didn't think you would actually want to--"

She looks away, and he remembers neither of them has said it yet, what this is. It's so easy to think about the reasons not to do it, the complications of lives and distances, the logical things that make it feel like it's probably not realistic.

"I want to see where this goes," he says. It's the most important thing, really. The only thing that matters right now. "You're not _that_ far away. We could make it work."

"And I'm hoping I get closer."

He grins. "Yeah, I hope so too."

*

Clarke always has the futon reverted and made by the time Octavia wakes up, so there shouldn't be anything to give away that she didn't actually sleep on it the previous night, but Octavia sidles up next to him while Clarke is taking a shower to say, "So, you and Clarke?"

The fucked up thing about siblings is that he's actually been trying to figure out how to have this exact conversation with Octavia, but his immediate impulse is still to deny it and change the subject. 

Luckily, he's not fifteen anymore. "How did you know?"

She snorts. "I was on the phone, not _blind _. I went to the bathroom and saw you guys cuddling on the couch. Hell, I saw you guys cuddling _before_ I left. It didn't take a detective." __

__"I guess not."_ _

__"I was kind of hoping that would happen, when I invited her."_ _

__"What, her and me?"_ _

__She shrugs. "I didn't have some grand plan or anything, but I swear you guys, like, gravitate towards each other. Every time I see you together, you're hanging out. And you barely hang out. I figured almost a week of shared space might do it."_ _

__"You weren't wrong," says Clarke, coming back and settling against Bellamy's side. "I guess you're not pissed I'm dating your brother now."_ _

__"Not as long as you treat him right and never tell me about your sex life," says O promptly, and Clarke grins._ _

__"That sounds doable." She pauses like she's counting out a beat. "Just like your brother."_ _

__Octavia groans. "Okay, I take it all back, I never should have invited you home with me. I can't wait for you to graduate and leave."_ _

__"Me neither," says Clarke, saving Bellamy the trouble. "It's going to be awesome."_ _

__And next June, when she moves from her dorm into Bellamy and Miller's apartment it is, without a doubt, awesome._ _


End file.
